Monday, April 2, 2012

Social investment groups join forces

Sustainable investment organizations from around the world – including Canada's Social Investment Organization – will collaborate on a new global report on trends in sustainable and responsible investment.

The regional organizations currently produce their own research reports, usually once every two years. The new report is scheduled for release in December 2012.

"This is an important step in helping to identify and compare sustainable investment industry developments across geographic boundaries," the groups said in a joint press release. "Specifically, the report will analyze the prevalence of investment strategies that consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in investment analysis and ownership activities."

The report will be a "valuable resource to investors and policy makers and will serve as the baseline for future research," the press release continued. Each participating organization will be responsible for collecting data in its home market.

The sustainable investment organizations agreed to implement the new report at a meeting in London last week, also pledging to launch a global website later this year and to collaborate more closely on policy issues.

"The strength of the sustainable investment industry lies in the diversity of our members in Canada and around the world," said Eugene Ellmen, Executive Director, SIO. "Our collective activities as sustainable investment forums will give voice to our members by showing this global diversity."

The meeting was attended by sustainable investment groups from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and Holland, as well as the European Sustainable Investment Forum and the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia.

The sustainable investment organizations collectively represent more than 1,000 members including pension funds, asset managers, NGOs, banks, community development organizations, research institutions and consulting firms, impact investors and financial advisors.

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